The odious personhood movement is constantly seeking to end all abortions and various contraception methods. Fortunately, it just as constantly fails. But that doesn’t deter the movement from its aim: giving “the fertilized egg the same protection and rights as any infant, toddler or other person who has been born.” It repeatedly has tried unsuccessfully to get passed a … [Read more...]
Trump appointee to Supreme Court outrageous
Amid all the weird decrees of Czar Trump, one of the worst things he did was nominate Scalia II for the Supreme Court. The nominee, Neil Gorsuch, a federal appeals court judge in Denver, Col., sounds like a decent sort. But his confirmation would return the court to its 5-4 reactionaryism under the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon summed up Gorsuch … [Read more...]
Mercy extended to Manning—but, but, but
“The quality of mercy is not strained; / It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven / Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; / It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” Portia, Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” Act IV, Scene 1 As his last pardon before leaving office, President Obama granted mercy to Chelsea Manning. OK. But the sad irony is that … [Read more...]
Faith Forum best feature in poor newspaper
Faith Forum appears every Sunday in the Reno Gazette-Journal, important enough to take up two-thirds of a page. It is the only constantly intellectual item in the paper. RGJ opinion columns are woefully weak. Moderator Rajan Zed poses a question to 12 panelists, each of whom represents a different religion. One recent Sunday he asked the panelists if they should study other … [Read more...]
Court ‘Saves’ Nation On LGBT but Some States Balk
The Supreme Court has rescued the country from moral insensitivity in cases dealing with gay marriage, lesbianism, abortion, bisexuality and gender change. But some state legislatures have yet to get the message. The struggle for civil rights never ends, as Martin Luther King knew. One recalcitrant on Supreme Court rulings is North Carolina. It is continuing a disgraceful … [Read more...]
Filibuster Tarnishes Reid’s Marvelous Environmental Record
Office-leaving Sen. Harry Reid will never live down the shame of keeping the terribly undemocratic filibuster. Reid, retiring in 10 days after a 50-year career in Nevada politics, was majority leader for 12 years when his Democratic Party controlled the Senate. He alone could have killed the filibuster. He lacked the wisdom to do it. That failure forever tarnishes his … [Read more...]
Obama legacy brightened by rebuke of Israel
Nothing becomes President Obama like his leaving office. The final major act of his eight-year presidency was “seconding” the United Nations condemnation of Israel for its settlements in the West Bank. This was courageous. U.S. presidents have constantly backed Israel whatever its outrages or wrong-doings since its founding in 1948. Yet undeterred by the U.N. … [Read more...]
U.S. Clings to Death Penalty Despite Beccaria ‘Rules’
Cesare Beccaria, Italian criminologist, jurist, philosopher and politician, was one of the multi-faceted geniuses who sparkled during the Enlightenment. In a celebrated treatise in 1764 called “Crimes and Punishments,” Beccaria condemned the death penalty. But more than two hundred years later America still has not abolished capital punishment. All other cultivated and … [Read more...]